Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, the sequel to the cult RPG from the mid-‘0s, is coming this year. The announcement of the second part straight up kicked me and made me finally pass the first part. How does the game look in 2020? I’ll tell you in a moment.

The popularity of vampire themes in games is far from similar in movies. Judge for yourself: what games come to your mind when you say “vampire games”? Among modern games theme seems dead. Apart from Vampyr nothing “vampire” has not been released for a very long time. And among the classics gathered not so much. I mean, the games may be a lot, but it’s all part of the series. Legacy of Cain, Blood Omen, Castlevania, Bloodrayne are quite modest.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines particularly stands out among them. This game has long caught my eye, but I’ve started it a couple of times and abandoned it almost immediately after learning. But not this time.

Bloodlines was created by Troika Games in 2004. In case you’re not aware, Troika Games is an RPG development studio founded by the developers of the original Fallout. They are Tim Kane, Leonard Boyarsky and Jason Anderson. And it seemed to be their “trio” that was implied in the studio’s name. But it so happened that Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines was the third and the last game of the studio. That’s the magic of number 3.

Let me tell you right away that I am not familiar with the World of Darkness universe, and Bloodlines is my starting point. Therefore I won’t describe the dark game’s lore and every vampire class right now. The only thing I will point out is their hierarchy. That is, in theory, the Tremers, Ventrue, and Toreadors are kind of the local aristocrats and aesthetes. The Brouhaha, the Gangrels, and especially the Nosferatu are more of a hardcore proletariat. But whether you choose Ventra or Toreador, you’ll have to crawl around in the sewers and get your ambition dirty one way or another. Just like when playing as Nosferatu, you’ll be able to co-found a nightclub and get some profit from it.

The game welcomes an interesting opportunity to create a character. I have already seen it in Morrowind, so I can’t call it unique. Still, I can’t help but mention the ability to create your vampire alter ego with a test. I decided to create my vampire in the classic editor. I chose the Brucha, which is a class of rebels and warriors. In general, do not be afraid to choose any class. Yes, some class will suffer more in the beginning, but the main thing – it’s what you want to get out of the passage and who you want to play. The only exception can be made for the Malkavians – their dialogues are not really designed for the first introduction to the game.

There are quite a few clans, and each gives a different passing experience. Go crazy for the Malks or crawl through the sewers for Nosferatu? You’re welcome. That said, there’s a wagering option. You want a brouhaha hacker? Go for it! You don’t have to pump up only combat skills and forever go full throttle. The game encourages exploration of locations and out-of-the-box approaches.
Choosing a clan is not choosing a mage, archer, or warrior in a typical RPG. It’s more about choosing who your Sire was. And what disciplines you can use. But what you personally become is up to you.
In Bloodlines there is no such thing as a “grind”. You don’t get experience points for killing your enemies. Yes, the game has a combat system that allows you to use both melee and ranged combat. It is also combined with the supernatural abilities of the hero. But you won’t be able to level up your character by killing a hundred enemies, no matter how powerful they are.

The level is only increased by completing quests. Complete the mission – you get points. Upgraded a skill, which can help you in the next mission. Completed it – got more points. And so on. On the one hand, this makes fighting pointless. What’s the point of fighting if you don’t get experience points? It turns out that the enemy – just a barrier to the completion of the quest. And if there is a way around it, rather than trying to break it – that’s also an option. Sometimes I even got the feeling that the developers understood the curvature of the combat system, so they made it possible to avoid it as much as possible.

That said, experience points are limited by the number of quests. Therefore, you must still choose which skills you want to pump up as much as possible, and which – as a kind of support in the passage. After all, the amount of experience points to increase with each skill level. And the discipline to increase is even more expensive. So all the same, some kind of vision of your character should have.

As I wrote above, the combat system is quite crooked. I especially felt this on the battles with the bosses. The hitboxes of some of them were incomprehensible to me, as a melee character. Because of this, I had to use firearms a couple of times. And the usual enemies after a series of blows are always flying somewhere up. I understand that vampires are strong, but damn… It’s annoying, and sometimes it works against you. If you throw an enemy with an uppercut weapon up there, he can stay up there and calmly bombard you.

I rarely used shooting, so I don’t have much to praise or condemn. There are a lot of different cannons, but I wouldn’t say they’re any different than the damage they do. Regardless of the cost of the cannon. But by pumping up the shooting skill, you can reduce the sight and recoil.
In general, the combat system crosses out some points of the game. But you know, crossing out can be done in different ways. For example, you can write a word and draw a thin line along it. The word will remain visible – it’s just crossed out. Or you can draw over the written word and you won’t know what was written there. The combat in Bloodlines is more of a fine line.

I am far from being a fan of vampire stories. But Bloodlines managed to take me into its mysterious and dark world to such an extent that it was hard to tear myself away until the end of the story. Perhaps my comparison seems strange to you, but Bloodlines had the same effect on me as Mass Effect did in its time. Space is one of my least favorite settings. But I have passed the Mass Effect trilogy with great pleasure. There is a certain similarity between the games for me, although apart from the Action-RPG genre they have little in common.

Did I mention the atmospheric locations?

Bloodlines has a great presentation of the World of Darkness universe. After the game you want to learn more about the universe and the background of the characters. For example, Beckett is a local historian scholar. A very interesting character with a rich backstory. Once you start studying his biography, it’s hard not to get sucked into the further twists and turns of the World of Darkness universe. You should agree that it is very cool when the game gives interest to the universe it is based on. Not the other way around, as is often the case with Warhammer games, for example. When a game is made as if it’s only for fans of an already established universe, not trying to attract new people to the setting. Playing Vampires, on the other hand, makes you want to know more about the world of the game.

The dialogues are well written. They’re fun to read and it’s cool that initially you don’t see options for using all sorts of beliefs and stuff. Until you pump up the appropriate skill, you won’t know what possible options are waiting for you. The dialog system is interesting and doesn’t reveal all its tricks at once. As Fallout or other Action-RPGs do, for example, where you are shown a possible option that you lack the skill for.

Once you achieve success in enchantment, enticement, or threats, you’ll notice new options right away. And if you decide to pump up any of these skills during the walkthrough, you’ll immediately feel the urge to see what would have happened in the old, already passed moment if I had charisma skills…? This is a great motivator to pass the game again.

It’s impossible not to mention the voice acting. And it’s not just the voicing of the characters. Particularly noteworthy are the radio broadcasts within the game and even the news on TV. Actors play their roles qualitatively, and it creates an indescribable atmosphere. But the characters are also, understandably, voiced well. If we’re talking to LaCroix – we hear a cocky, arrogant character. Jack (the character from the tutorial) is gruff, stern, but with a touch of humor. All of this is felt in the voiceover and applies to all the characters we encounter. Seriously, all of the characters I met on my first playthrough were voiced with quality. And the actors are completely accurate in conveying their characters. Combined, the voice acting and dialogues are a huge plus for the game.

It’s hard to say anything about the visuals of a game from years ago. Yes, it looks old, but Source is a long-playing engine. If you’re not allergic to old games – Bloodlines won’t scare you off with grotesque textures, trust me. The locations are well designed. They’re compact, but there’s plenty to explore. The transitions from the parade life of Hollywood to its backyard are particularly pleasing. If well-dressed NPCs hang out around the club, it’s around the corner from a burning trash can that homeless people are basking. Moments like this are a great indication of the game’s level of craftsmanship.

The soundtrack is impressive for the time. In the clubs there is driving industrial and various gothic metal. Even Lacuna Coil made an appearance in the game. In the story locations plays a dark ambient. Each of the four main locations has its own theme song. Somewhere more melodic compositions, somewhere more somber. All very much on topic and once again adds points to the score of the game’s atmosphere.
I liked the detail work. This and what I mentioned above – all sorts of TV shows and radio. And also exactly the gameplay moments. Some side quests that are given through the main character’s laptop. I actually remembered my apartment only at the end of the game and was surprised that I was waiting there for tasks from LaCroix and interesting quests for one Nosferatu.

For completing quests for this Nosferatu he gives a very interesting reward – posters of different vampire girls that we meet in the game. But you won’t get experience points, alas.

The game came out raw, but that didn’t stop the fans from loving it. Because they have supported the game for years and even helped to improve it – Bloodlines now doesn’t suffer from the huge amount of bugs, and the part of planned content was restored. With such a fanbase, one shouldn’t be surprised by the game’s cult status.

For some reason, Deadly Premonition comes to mind. The Japanese detective is also praised by many players for the story and atmosphere, but most of the bugs have remained in place. Troika Games closed because of the financial problems after Bloodlines, and the developers of Deadly Premonition just stopped supporting the game. Here the fans didn’t do someone else’s job.

To all RPG fans, I strongly recommend Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines for a walkthrough. Don’t be afraid of its age or the bugs – critical things have long since been fixed. You can more than enjoy the game now. Especially since Bloodlines 2 is on the horizon.